The July 7 editorial “The interminable wait for citizenship” addresses some but not all of the critical issues surrounding the intolerable wait tens of thousands of Chicago-area immigrants experience once they file their applications to become U.S. citizens.
Not noted is the extraordinary commitment of private and public dollars to support community organizations as they help immigrants prepare to apply. Successful applicants must demonstrate basic proficiency in English and basic civics knowledge. Non-profits across metropolitan Chicago provide an array of classes and assistance.
This fall Illinois and the Fund for Immigrants and Refugees will award up to $3.6 million–a record amount–in grants to such non-profits for citizenship services. The state has been funding citizenship preparation work since January 1995, and the Fund for Immigrants and Refugees, founded in 1997, is a 20-member consortium of funders, with citizenship funding as its highest priority.
To risk squandering the wealth of resources creatively assembled to support immigrants becoming new citizens is inexcusable. The Immigration and Naturalization Service must get a handle on what budget it needs to make a six-month process available to all, and Congress must appropriate the funding for that promptly.
